


Coffee with Cream

by AvaCelt



Series: Gintama Prompt Fills [18]
Category: Gintama
Genre: Cross-Posted on Tumblr, M/M, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Prompt Fic, Prompt Fill, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-04
Updated: 2016-04-04
Packaged: 2018-05-31 03:50:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6454267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AvaCelt/pseuds/AvaCelt
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Takechi Henpeita muses on the subtleties underlying his boss's relationship with the red-haired demon.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Coffee with Cream

**Author's Note:**

> Written for "Domesticity/Intimacy Prompts." Originally posted on my [Tumblr writing blog](http://victorsandvanquishers.tumblr.com/) and now being archived here for the A03 writing community.

With the Kiheitai and the Yato tribe combined, Henpeita calculated that a total of six thousand mouths needed to be fed three times a day, every day, for as long as they considered Takasugi Shinsuke and Kamui their leaders. See, when the Yato tribe initially joined hands with the Kiheitai, it was understood that their military interests would coincide, but besides that, they'd live separately and in harmony.

That was, of course, before Shinsuke and the redheaded demon decided to get married and get rid of the two-budget system and instead replaced it with a Counsel of Food Relations. Of course Henpeita was put on the committee because Bansai was still in charge of making money through his management of various teen idols and Matako was training a new generation of violent female dissidents. He was paitrf with a few of the bored Yato as Abuto, their lieutenant and chief budget-interpreter, was on shore leave with his policeman husband, Yamazaki. The Yato woman, Kazu, who did the actual budgeting was pregnant and taking her own, much-needed vacation. In the end, it was Henpeita, three Kiheitai members who knew how to count, and four Yato who only pretended they knew what the hell their budget sheets said.

Yet, like all things involved in the management of two of the most dangerous factions in the galaxy, Shinsuke and Kamui ended up filling out the budget tables themselves. But that wasn't what caught Henpeita's eyes when it came time to do the actual shopping.

“We're short on cooks on the fourth and seventh Harusame ships, so we'll have to get something quick and easy for them so they don't burn down the kitchen,” Kamui noted as he put little checks next to whatever items were purchased and ready to be hauled to their respective ships.

“Why'd you have to fire the seventh ship's dessert chef?” Shinsuke deadpanned as he made his own tick marks on his grocery chart.

“The flan tasted like curd and they used milk instead of cream every time someone asked for cream in their coffee,” Kamui shrugged, peering at the celery stalks on display.

That's how they continued for the duration of the shopping, and when they were back on their shared ship, Henpeita tried to map out the series of events that led them, the Kiheitai, from being hired to take out the Yato division of the Harusame collective to their leader choosing to wed the captain of the very group they were once paid to take out.

“When you think too hard, kittens cry,” Bansai told Henpeita honestly.

“I suppose,” he mumbled to himself, thinking back on the way Kamui deftly handled the bargaining while Shinsuke took charge of getting the Kiheitai and Yato to carry the groceries to the right ships.

“What's bothering you?”

“Do you suppose Shinsuke-dono loves the demon?” Henpeita asked curiously.

“Of course,” Bansai replied without missing a beat. “The demon stole his heart, you know. Not when they were fighting, but when he went to visit the demon while he was locked away. Shinsuke... Shinsuke said that the demon never stopped smiling, as if death was obsolete in its eyes.”

“I watched them shop for food today. The demon did the haggling and the paying while Shinsuke-dono instructed the carriers.”

Bansai shrugged. “They've found their key to harmonizing.”

“And you don't fear the demon?” Henpeita asked. “He could kill us all in one move. You know Shinsuke-dono knows that if he ever has to take on that monster at full strength, he'd lose. The only reason Shinsuke-dono didn't die that day...”

“... was because the rest of Harusame was against him,” Bansai finished for him. “But it was for the best, wasn't it? The demon doesn't invite death as often as it used to, not since it married Shinsuke.”

“He can't,” interrupted a third voice, “not when he made a promise.” Bansai and Henpeita stiffened when Shinsuke pattered into the room and sat next to them. Shinsuke grinned when he saw their grim faces. “What? I think grocery shopping's a lot better than asking for a fight.”

“And you're not afraid he's going to turn back on his word?” Henpeita mused out loud.

Silence overtook the three. Their ships were passing by a bright pink planet. The view was beautiful from this ship's observation deck.

“No,” Shinsuke deadpanned.

“Why not?” Bansai questioned softly.

Shinsuke smoked his pipe and blinked lazily at the pink swirls of the nearby planet. “If I can trust him with the food my men are going to eat, then I can trust him to keep his promises.”

Henpeita and Bansai both nodded and unison and focused their attention on the beautiful planet they were passing by. Maybe it was the talk of food that reminded them all that dinner would be served soon, or maybe it was because of Shinsuke'd smoke and disinterested visage- either way, when a member of the Kiheitai came to tell them about the food Kamui prepared for their ship, Bansai and Henpeita dutifully followed their leader to the table, even if it was a proposed demon that cooked their meal.

 


End file.
